Barton’s unbeaten season comes to end at Dodge in overtime loss

Barton's unbeaten season comes to end at Dodge in overtime loss
The Barton County Community College men's basketball team battled nearly point-for-point on the home floor of the preseason Jayhawk West favorite, before falling in overtime by an 83-76 score. The Cougars saw their unbeaten season come to an on the Civic Center floor with the loss. Barton, ranked 15th in the NJCAA, falls to 14-1 on the season and 1-1 in the West. Dodge is now 14-1 as well and a perfect 2-0 in the West. The Cougars are back in action Wednesday when 13-2 Cloud County visits the Barton County Gym. Cloud is 1-0 in the West, behind only 2-0 Dodge.

Highlights
Barton trailed most of the contest, but had a chance to win the game at the end of regulation. The Cougars took a 1-point lead with 3 minutes to go, and had a chance to increase that lead on its next possession. But a Barton turnovers on a ball that appeared to be knocked out of bounds by Dodge, gave the Conquistadors the ball back. Dodge responded by knocking down a Jase Herl 3-pointer to recapture the lead at 76-65 with 2 minutes left. Ivan Evans tied the game for Barton with 2 free throws with 50 seconds left to play and Barton had a chance to win the game following a Dodge turnover with 34 seconds left. Freshman Scott Schneider got a good look at a 3-pointer from the left corner at the buzzer, but the ball bounded out and the game went to overtime.

In overtime, Dodge again played from in front right away as  Angel Santiago hit a 3-pointer on the Conqs 1st possession. Dodge never trailed the rest of the extra session. Barton tied the game at 74-all on a Chris Jackson layup with just under 2 minutes to play but another Santiago trey immediately gave the Conquistadors the lead back, which they extended to 83-74 with a 9-0 run in the closing 2 minutes before Barton scored in the final 10 seconds.

The Cougars were led by point guard Omar Johnson 24 points. He was joined in double figures by Evans with 15. Barton hit just 5-of-20 3-pointers in the game – a staple of the Cougars game this season where they are averaging better than 8 per game at a 40 percent clip. Dodge was led by Charlie Coley, who scored 23 and grabbed 12 rebounds.

The Cougars road doesn't get any easier as Barton host 13-2 Cloud and 10-5 Seward this week at the Barton Gym.

Stats
Full stats can be found at www.bartonccc.edu/sports

Next
Wed, Jan 10 – v Cloud, 8 pm (Jayhawk West contest at the Barton County Gym)

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Check out Barton County Basketball Online at www.bartonccc.edu/sports